


Scorpius + bullying

by LowkeyScrupious



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, Blood, Bullying, Burning, Canon Compliant, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Punching, physical violence, pov Scorpius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 03:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15379326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LowkeyScrupious/pseuds/LowkeyScrupious
Summary: Oneshot where Scorpius is a smol bean just doing his thing, but gets jumped and is pretty roughly beat up. Cue Albus at the end making everything seem better! Set during fifth year and Cursed Child compliant!





	Scorpius + bullying

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a couple of fics I've read about the implications of what happens when Albus or Scorpius get bullied at Hogwarts. And after the events of Cursed Child I figured their ordeals would only get worse!  
> At some points my writing may unintentionally lead you to suspect sexual abuse is about to happen - I assure y'all it's not! But potential trigger warning anyway.   
> Enjoy!

It had been a very busy day. Well, maybe busy wasn’t the right word for it. Eventful. Scorpius settled on that, as he walked the familiar route from the sixth floor of the west wing where he’d just had Muggle Studies to the second floor in the east wing. It was afternoon on a Thursday, and he was excited for the last lesson of the day, about ready to break open a new tube of fresh parchments for his note taking.

He’d had a Defence Against the Dark Arts test that morning, which he’d been studying really hard for, and in addition to that there had been a surprise Arithmancy test straight after. So the morning had been busy enough, and just now he’d found out he had managed an O on his Muggle Studies test from last week! He was excited to tell Albus this as soon as he saw him in a few minutes time at Transfiguration.

Dodging the statue of Gertrude of Galway that jumped out at lone students if they weren’t quick enough, Scorpius idly thought again how grateful he was to be being kept so busy this year. Most people wouldn’t enjoy all the tests and mock exams that OWL year was throwing them (Albus included), but Scorpius was deeply aware that without the constant distraction of revision, he would be a lot more miserable. After the events of last year Scorpius needed to be kept busy. Or rather, his mind did. It was the quiet moments in between classes when Albus wasn’t around (like now), or when the conversation fell flat at the dinner table, that Scorpius would begin to dwell on... well, things that didn’t need dwelling on, and things that would make him start to feel very uncomfortable very quickly if he paid them any heed. Often he’d find himself shaking and feeling like he couldn’t catch his breath, with that familiar sense of dread starting to overcome him.

The only other person who could understand this of course was Albus, seeing as they had gone through all of it together. _But not all of it_ , a voice at the back of his mind reminded him. Yes, that was certainly true, and Scorpius hated remembering the fact. He had told Albus before of course about the Alternate Reality, where he had been the most awful version of himself. Had gone into details even, but they didn’t talk about it as much as Scorpius wanted. As much as he _needed_. He already felt guilty whenever he managed to wake Albus up in the middle of the night from one of his nightmares, and Albus had to calm him down enough so he could fall back to sleep, which - most of the time - took hours. He also knew Albus wanted him to talk more about the Voldemort time line, but Scorpius thought there was just no point burdening him any further than he already did about it. It wasn’t fair. Even if Albus was getting double the amount of sleep Scorpius was, it still wasn’t enough. No way was Scorpius talking.

And so it was that fifth year, OWL year, and all the distractions it brought was, overall, a good thing for him. The stuff he was trying to repress was (for the most part) staying repressed, and whether that was healthy or not he was managing. For now.

Except there was one other thing. His own memories weren’t the only things he felt like he was battling on a daily basis. The torrents of insults and snide comments he and Albus has been enduring since their very first night at Hogwarts had managed to get massively out of hand since the whole Time Turner debacle had come out. The whole thing had been reported in the press in a very incomplete and biased way, resulting in most of the wizarding world believing an incredibly inaccurate account, and choosing instead to turn to their own rumours of what had happened. As a result, many of the students of Hogwarts were under the (not entirely misconstrued) impression that Albus and Scorpius had managed to almost destroy the entire world.

Scorpius needed more than two hands to count the number of times he and Albus had been on the receiving end of a tripping jinx this week. Albus had actually broken his nose one time. Last week Scorpius had been in tears when he had got up in the library in search of a new book and returned to his seat to find his almost completed homework shredded in his bag and ink leaking everywhere, all his quills stolen. Once, during lunch break when Albus got back from seeing a professor about some homework, he had walked into the dormitory to find Scorpius nursing a very sore looking stinging jinx on his neck.

It was something they’d both noticed, the fact that it was Scorpius taking the brunt of the abuse. In fact, other than the usual snide comments, Albus was never targeted unless he was with Scorpius. Apparently other students were too afraid to deliberately hurt the son of Harry Potter. Scorpius wasn’t bitter, but sometimes when he was trying to stave off an anxiety attack in the library, or when he found “Son of Voldemort” written again on his textbooks, he certainly could get jealous of Albus. And then of course immediately feel guilty about it afterwards.

Rounding the corner of one of the Charms corridors he was jolted back to the present by the sight of three people he dreaded. Three seventh year Slytherin boys, - McCormack, Adler and Lewis he thought - were walking down the corridor towards him. _For Merlin’s sake_ , why had he had to stay and talk to the Muggle Studies professor after the lesson? He was running late and the corridors were all empty except for him and the seventh years. This didn’t bode well.

Thankfully, they were talking amongst themselves, and for a fleeting moment Scorpius wondered whether he could turn around quickly before they noticed him. No sooner had he had the idea though than Alder caught sight of him and wasted no time in excitedly exclaiming to the others. Scorpius found he had stopped walking. Forcing himself forwards he supposed the best strategy would be to pretend they weren’t there and keep walking. _Yeah, right_ , he thought because he knew it was too late for that. They’d got that glint in their eyes.

“Well, well, well, look who it is!” McCormack sounded far too delighted to find himself alone in empty corridor with a boy he hated.

Scorpius’s heart was pounding, he knew they were about to inflict some new horror on him, but hopefully they’d just get it over with and he wouldn’t be too late for Transfiguration. The gap between them was closing, and with every step Scorpius took he could feel that this time was going to be different. It felt more sinister. Everyone was in class already, theoretically these guys could keep him here for the next forty minutes if they liked. Far too soon they were right in front of him.

“Look who we’ve got all alone boys, the son of our all-time favourite murdering dark lord!” Scorpius averted his eyes as McCormack spoke, trying to just walk past, but Adler shoved him up against the stone wall, hard.

Scorpius decided to abandon pretence. “Look, whatever you’re going to do can you just do it please because I’m running late for Transfiguration-“

Clearly this was the wrong thing to say, because Adler snarled and shoved him back against the wall again. He felt his head connect with the stone and immediately his vision went dark at the edges. He was panicking now. They had him. They had never actually resorted to physical violence before either, preferring jinxes or the occasional minor curse.

“ _Please_!” he said, the urgency clear in his voice, and Scorpius was surprised, but proud to hear only the slightest trace of desperation in his plea. He hardened his face into something he hoped would look defiant, and locked eyes with Alder, who still had his arm against Scorpius’s chest.

It was Lewis’s turn to address him. “You think you can walk around this school like any other decent human being? After what you did? You are the _son. Of. Voldemort_!” And he spat in Scorpius’s face. “People _died_ protecting this school. It’s a disgrace. You don’t belong here. You dirty the name of Hogwarts. You dirty Slytherin House. We’ve moved on. We don’t believe in your pure-blood ideology and we’re embarrassed to have you.”

At this, Scorpius was shocked. Not only at the verbal attack, but at being called a pure-blood ideologist. When had he ever, _ever_ , expressed those kinds of views? Before he even had a chance to think how unfair this whole situation was Adler threw him to the ground. At least the force he used wasn’t totally unexpected this time. He quickly scrambled onto his back, leaning back on his hands.

“Boys, it’s time we taught this worthless piece of shit that Hogwarts is no place for murdering, racist, disgusting little faggots.” Scorpius let out a gasp at that. He tried to back away, reaching for his wand, but Lewis was too quick for him.

“ _Expelliarmus_ ”. His wand flew straight to Lewis and he pocketed it. This scared Scorpius the most so far. At least if they were duelling he’d have a chance to protect himself. Now he didn’t have his wand he felt helpless, and that sense of dread suddenly reared its head again deep in his stomach.

He was still trying to back away but before he’d got far Adler kicked him hard in his torso and he felt the breath leave him. For a minute he couldn’t move, winded, but he became aware of Adler and McCormack each grabbing an arm and holding him down on his back. _Merlin, this isn’t good_. He desperately tried to pull his arms free, but it was impossible - there was the weight of an entire boy on each arm. Then Lewis was on top of him, straddling him. And then before he knew it, pain, _oh Merlin_ , wow that hurt. Lewis had punched his face so hard Scorpius marvelled at how his skull seemed to still be intact. Once. Twice. Three times. Will this ever end? He could feel blood start to pour freely from his nose, and although he tried to keep his eyes open he found he couldn’t all the way. His face was stinging so much.

“You.” Punch. “Don’t.” Punch. “Belong here.”

Lewis grabbed his chin to turn his face over in order to start punching the other side, and Scorpius knew he was going to pass out soon. The pain was so much. After what seemed like a literal eternity, Scorpius realised the punching had stopped. Had he passed out? It certainly felt like he had. He tried to open his eyes, but found he was barely able to. His face felt grossly disfigured, he knew it was going to be swollen, but it didn’t even feel like his own anymore. He just lay there. It had to be over. Even if it wasn’t he couldn’t summon the energy to care. Lewis had got off him and the others had released his arms, but they were still there, talking amongst themselves. Before he knew it, he was being dragged into a side passage. If that was what it was. It may have been a cupboard, he really couldn’t tell through the slits his eyes had become, and his increasingly blurred vision. He thought the door must have shut them in because there was less light now.

The realisation suddenly hit him that this was not over, something else was coming, and sheer blind panic seemed to bring him closer to consciousness because he managed to start scrambling around in desperation to find an exit.

“No…” he frantically muttered, half coughing, half spitting blood in his haste to get away from the boys. But Adler and McCormack were back on him, Adler holding down both his arms, McCormack kneeling across his chest, making it even harder for Scorpius to draw breaths. In that moment, it was the most scared he’d ever been. Forget Delphi. Forget being tortured. Forget even being left alone in that vile alternate reality where Voldemort ruled everything. At least there Scorpius was protected by his name and status. In this moment he didn’t know what was about to happen to him. He just knew it would be bad. He desperately struggled against the boys pinning him down, his back arching. But that was just about all he could manage.

“Help!” he cried, figuring his best bet was hoping someone would walk by and hear, bleak as that was. He felt even more humiliated he’d been reduced to begging.

“Shut up” Lewis hissed with hatred in his voice. A quick _Muffliato_ later and that put a stop to Scorpius’s hopes of anyone hearing anything.

Lewis had his wand out, and pulled Scorpius’s left arm out and rolled up his robe and shirt sleeve, exposing his inner forearm. Scorpius barely had time to wonder what the hell he was going to do now, when a burning sensation took all of his attention. Instinctively he jerked his arm away from Lewis’s wand, put firmer hands held it in place.

“Keep still you bastard or you’ll make it messy!” Lewis had his wand trained on Scorpius’s inner arm, burning something into his skin.

At this new pain, Scorpius couldn’t help from screaming. He’d always hated swearing, never seen the point, but as he grasped around for the right word to describe what he was experiencing only swears came to mind.

“Fuck!” he cried, gasping desperately for air. It seemed to go on for a long time. When Lewis finally decided he was done Scorpius was so relieved at the sudden absence of pain, it was all he could do to just lie there.

“Maybe now you’ll realise we don’t want you here, you don’t deserve to be here. You may be best friends with the son of Harry Potter, but you don’t fool us!” Lewis’s voice was filled hatred. “We can see who you really are – worthless scum. Your whole existence is an abomination.” His voice lowered with repressed fury. “You’re _fucking lucky_ no one else can see it, or else we’d do away with you right now. You’re _evil_. If anything happens from now on, if anyone complains about you, if you hurt a single person, if you so much as loose a single point from Slytherin house, we’ll come after you. And maybe next time we’ll finish the job.”

All Scorpius could do was lie there, trembling, sobbing, letting the words wash over him. He heard the door open and close again, and realised he was alone.

 

*******

 

For a while he just lay there. He needed to take in what had happened. He didn’t want to get up, it would mean facing reality. That was something he was not ready to do. Idly, he wondered whether he’d ever be able to face reality ever again. How long could he just lie here, a pathetic mess on the floor? After a while he felt a cold tear leak from his eye and mix with the crusted blood that covered his face.

Eventually, the adrenaline started to fade, and the pain from his face and arm started to truly be felt. _Merlin_ , it was bad. He hadn’t even looked at his arm yet. He was sure he didn’t want to, ever. Slowly though, his trembling from fear turned to shivering from cold, and he realised he must have been laying here a long time. Hours? He found he didn’t care. It took all his willpower to even decide to sit up, let alone complete the action. He managed it though, after another long while. Wow his stomach hurt too. Great. That would be where they’d kicked him. One small positive though was that now he was sat up it didn’t seem like such a mountain to climb to somehow get out of this cupboard slash hidden passage, whatever the hell it was, and into his bed in the Slytherin dungeons. It felt like the finishing line had just moved a hundred metres closer.

As gingerly as he could, he turned his bruised and battered face to look at what they’d done to his arm. When he saw it he let out a choked sob, and tears started to leak down his face again, but really, it wasn’t too bad. Scorpius was surprised to actually find himself thinking that, as he gazed down upon the Dark Mark that was crudely marked upon his skin. It just looked like an angry red mess, and he hoped that as it looked like scar tissue would soon form something could be done to remove it. He was confident Madam Pomfrey could fix it, as long as Lewis had only used the most basic Scalding charm they were taught at Hogwarts. If he had used another kind, or a curse, it may be that he was stuck with it. The thought made Scorpius wretch, and he vomited a little onto the floor next to him. Deciding what he wanted most right now was to get out of this goddamned cupboard he looked around for his wand to cast a Tempus charm to see what time it was, as by this point he had no idea. But it was nowhere to be seen. Lewis must still have it. _Okay_ , Scorpius thought, _not the end of the world_. He tried to reassure himself. He could get it back later. _Cross that bridge when we come to it_.

Well, he supposed. It was now or never. It was a huge effort to push himself up against the wall and support his own weight properly. He had to do it slowly or he thought he would definitely pass out. Holding onto the walls he stumbled towards the door, feeling like he’d never been so impaired before in his life. He decided not to let himself hesitate before opening the door that led to the Charms corridor, and the outside world, because otherwise he’d never leave. Slowly, he pushed the door open, and found the corridor to be empty again. _Thank Merlin_ , some luck at last. Head down, hands still groping the walls, he walked as quickly as he was able. He decided it would be better to take a longer route that was quieter than the most direct route which went right past the Great Hall, however he needn’t have worried - the suspicious lack of students in the halls told him it was probably dinner. Approaching the Slytherin common room was a bit trickier – there were still some students leaving late or hanging around to do other things. He could feel people staring as he walked up to the portrait but he couldn’t see whether they were staring at him or just glaring. He was sure none of them would be worried about him. Thankfully the common room was mercilessly empty, as was their dormitory. The walk had exhausted him, and he felt nauseous. Luckily he hadn’t needed to climb any staircases, as the common room was in the dungeons, because he thought if he’d had to climb he might have been sick. Again. Feeling like he needed to flop down immediately he lay straight down in his bed, and just managed to remember to draw the hangings shut before finally giving in and passing out.

 

******

 

Albus was worried. He’d been worried since Transfig. Where was Scorpius? This was not normal for him. Just missing the class had been concerning enough, but then he wasn’t at dinner? Albus had waited as long as he thought was reasonable in the dormitory, but then thought Scorpius might already be at dinner. After scanning the Slytherin table, then every other table, he had to accept that Scorpius wasn’t there. He couldn’t understand it. He thought the only reason Scorpius wouldn’t be at dinner would be… if he was in the hospital wing maybe? But he had seen Scorpius at lunch and he’d been fine. Nevertheless, it was the only place he could think that Scorpius could be. As soon as he’d come to this realisation he started to shovel his food down, and didn’t stay for desert (seeming as he had no one to talk to now anyway). Instead he decided to go straight the hospital wing. If Scorpius was there Albus needed to see him. Upon arrival however he realised it was completely empty and Madam Pomfrey was still at dinner. Now Albus was really confused. And even more worried. He started walking back to the dormitory, because it was the only thing he could do. He was just thinking he could maybe check the library in a bit (futile though it seemed) when he entered the dormitory and saw Scorpius’s hangings shut. Bingo. He was sure Scorpius was behind them in his bed.

“Scorpius?” he called, walking over. No answer. Well, he needed to see that Scorpius was there. “Scorpius?” he whispered again, pulling back the hangings slightly.

He gasped. If it hadn’t been for the white-blonde hair, and he wasn’t so familiar with Scorpius’s slim build, he wouldn’t have recognised the boy lying there. His sleeping face was covered in blood. It was staining the front of his shirt, his hair, it had rubbed all over his pillow from where he’d been lying. His face was swollen and there were nasty dark bruises blossoming all over. It looked like his nose was broken, and tear streaks had stained his usually pale complexion.

“Oh my god, Scorpius!” Albus muttered as he shook Scorpius awake. It definitely looked like Scorpius needed rest, but he’d be damned if he didn’t make sure he was okay first.

“What?...” Scorpius mumbled, eyes still closed.

“Scorpius, it’s me! Wake up!”

“Albus.” He sounded comforted knowing Albus was there. _Merlin knows why_ , Albus thought to himself. Scorpius was blinking his eyes open, and Albus helped him up into sitting position on the bed.

“Hi” he mumbled, a smile forming on his blood-stained face. How the hell was he managing a smile right now?

“Scorpius, what the hell happened? How did you get like this?”

“I’m alright, Albus, I know it looks bad… It was those seventh years… Lewis and co.”

Albus closed his eyes in anger and frustration, and realised he had his hands on Scorpius’s shoulders. He took a breath before he next spoke.

“We should go to the hospital wing.” As he was expecting, Scorpius grimaced.

“Nooooooo” he protested, but it was with a smile.

Albus grinned back at him. “Sorry mate. As soon as we get there she’ll heal you and I’m sure you’re in a lot of pain.”

Scorpius pulled a face. “Yes, but then will come the awkward questions. You know, the most awkward of all being ‘How did this happen?’ How am I supposed to answer that?”

Albus sighed. “I don’t know.” He paused. “I suppose if you were feeling really crazy you could tell the truth?” He looked into Scorpius’s eyes.

“Yeah, I would have to be crazy” he grimaced.

“Come on… we’ll figure it out…” as he started to pull Scorpius up, he caught a glimpse of Scorpius’s skin under a rather bloody sleeve.

“What is that?” He stopped and Scorpius could hear a finality in his tone.

“Um… yeah, they did this other thing too..” Scorpius was avoiding his eyes, looking down at whatever was under his sleeve. He slowly pulled the shirt up and showed Albus what they’d done. Albus gasped.

“Scor…”

“Yeah.” There was a silence.

“They’ll pay for this.”

Albus couldn’t quite believe what they’d done to his best friend. They’d mutilated him. The Dark Mark. It looked so painful. Anger boiled inside him in a way he’d never experienced before. It was viscous. He felt a little sick.

Scorpius mumbled a small “Hmm” with a tired smile, and neither boy knew what to say after this. Scorpius was too tired and Albus too shocked and angry. Besides, they both understood each other perfectly.

“Come on…” Albus rolled Scorpius’s sleeve down – so gently – and pulled him up so he was supporting some of Scorpius’s weight. Together they started to make the long and painful way to the hospital wing, both comforted by the other’s sheer presence, and both feeling a little more love for the other than ever before.


End file.
